Ashtanga Yoga

Philosophy And Methodology Of Raja Yoga - Yoga Positions and Poses

Yoga Poses and Positions

Raja Yoga is also called Ashtang
Yoga because the eight limbed practices of Ashtang
yoga come under Raja yoga. It is considered the
royal way of doing yoga. It is basically based on
the principles of controlling the mind and
achieving the salvation and total deliverance from
the world by controlling the energy generated by
the thought processes. Ashtanga yoga was in the ancient
times used for the sole purpose of grooming the
princes and princesses of royal families and
others of lower birth were not given any exposure
to it. Thus the yogic practices of Raja yoga were
exclusive to Rajas or kings, hence the name.

Ashtanga yoga is a path that can be
accessed today by anyone and it is a way of yoga
that has access to all the other forms of yoga,
exclusively decided for a certain kind of
individual according to his or her understanding
of principles of yoga and basic temperament. It
can therefore be patterned according to one's
disposition and essential nature. It makes use of
asanas and meditative practices but all the
practices are firmly placed on the strong
foundations of thought energies. This means that
the Sadhak or yogi is supposed to control his
thoughts and direct them towards dissociation from
the worldly matters while he is serving and
looking after all his duties. It is not complete
bodily detachment but a form of mental
dissociation that the worldly affairs and material
objects do not disturb or even attract him. He
realizes the importance of self.

Raja yoga believes in the entity
of Prakriti, which is the nature extending to the
highest precincts of the universe. This has large
influence on the Purush or the self, which is the
other entity, in all aspects of his life. The
purush gets manipulated by the power of prakriti
in every event of his life and everything that he
does. Thus he gets swayed from his path from time
to time under the power of Prakriti entity. Purush
on the other hand has been endowed with all the
power of the third entity that is Ishvara, or God
himself. Thus if the purush controls this
influence of prakriti over his self through
control over his thought processes he can unite
with Ishvara and experience the merger with the
divine consciousness.

Ashtanga yoga is a practical way of
approaching the path of enlightenment. In his lack
of Viveka or state of Aviveka, which is a
condition of not understanding the true nature of
entities due to lack of wisdom, the purush
considers himself dependent upon the prakriti. He
thinks that his existence is solely dependent upon
the prakriti. He feels tremendously drawn towards
the prakriti and feels attached with all its
objects. This is a state of Moha. He gets involved
deeply into the cycles of prakriti and gets more
detached from the truth and reality.

And the reality remains that he
and his self are the sole entities that are part
and parcel of the Ishvara. He is not different
from divine. He has all the power to do everything
that he wishes to as he is the essence of divine
himself. All he needs to do is to detach him from
the bonds of prakriti and that will automatically
bring him closer to the Ishvara. He has to open
his eyes and realize that his own attachment
towards prakriti is the main detriment to his own
progress to the path towards the divine
consciousness, which is the path to salvation.

The methodology of attainment
of salvation through Ashtanga yoga is based on one's
personal capacity and grasping power of the
ultimate. Raja yoga or Ashtanga yoga recognizes and defines three
kinds of pupils and the path of learning is
decided upon the category in which a person falls.
These are:

Uttama Adhikari: He is the first class
aspirant. He starts with Vairagya and Abhyasa
and soon attains Samadhi. He starts with Citta
Vritti Nirodha, which means thought process
control and modifications.

Madhyama Adhikari: He is the middle
class aspirant as prescribed three kinds of
practices of Kriya yoga to raise his level to
the first class aspirant so that he can attain
Samadhi. These practices are:

Tapas: It is practice of asceticism
with complete egoless ness. The person follows
all his actions with complete detachment from
selfish interests.

Svadhayay: It is the study of
literature and scriptures to calm the mind and
gain wisdom and knowledge about the divine and
self.

Ishvarapranidhana: This is complete
surrender to the will of God by admitting and
believing in mind, spirit and bodies His
complete influence over the self.

Adhama Adhikari: This is the lowest kind
of aspirant and is prescribed the path of
Ashtang yoga. Ashtang yoga is the eight limbed
practice of yoga. These are: